Chapter 28
Doctor‘s appointment
I couldn‘t exin how I felt when Aren admitted that he had almost lost control while kissing me. He
surely indulged my vanity, making me feel attractive and desirable, but his words also scared me
because I wanted at least one of us to be sane and rational, and I know I wasn‘t. It was time to face it:
the physical attraction between us was mutual.
After drinking ten sses of cold enough to freeze my brain water, I decided to take a cool shower.
Aren‘s words kept spinning inside my head. My heart hammered against my chest no matter how badly I
tried to regain myposure. This was pure insanity. I had never wanted anyone as much as?l wanted
this man. Each time he was around, I became overpowered by my primal, most basic instincts. Perhaps
it would have been easier to cope with this craving if I wasn‘t so mentally damaged...
I would love to be able to keep my emotions and physical pleasure separate. I knew many women that
found it so natural. They could meet someone, sleep with him, and then decide whether or not they want
to be involved with him romantically. I was their opposite. I wasn‘t raised in a conservative family, and my
theoretical sexual education began quite early. Nheless, I created this perfect image inside my head
that I would lose my virginity to someone I loved... This idealistic vision blinded me and lost me. I had
mistaken physical attraction for actual feelings and ended up in a rtionship that was nothing but toxic.
It cost me my dignity, self–esteem, and confidence. The broken heart was a harmless bonus that Can
added to the list of damages.
Perhaps it was fortunate that I had no time to suffer from heartache. I put a hundred percent of my
energy into finding the best possible treatment for Grandma. However, because I hadn‘t got time to cry
and feel miserable, my wounds had never truly healed...
Normal people in my situation look for professional help and spend thousands of dors on hours and
hours of therapy. The problem was that I had neither money nor time for therapy. I had to find a way to
process my problems myself and learn to live with them.
‘I was more than aware that I had trust issues. It was a self–defense mechanism that should have
protected me from the danger of being irreversibly broken. Yet, for some reason, that mechanism didn‘t
work with Aren. My hormones happily paraded with “Screw trust!” written on their T–shirts every time I
could sense him near me. It surely didn‘t help to see him shirtless before going back to bed. I could
almost be certain that even if I managed to fall asleep, Aren would forcefully invade every image I dared
to dream…
***
At 8 AM, I received a text from Neil reminding me that I had a medical appointment that day. I was
supposed to go through a series of tests concerning my health. Thankfully, my examination had nothing
to do with starting a sexual rtionship with Aren. I needed to get examined for much more mundane
reasons...
As I was told, it was one of the conditions that the Lan family set. Aren couldn’t marry a woman who was
infertile or terminally ill. It sounded reasonable, but, truthfully, it was the first time that I cared whether I
could have children or not. I had never considered myself a mother material.
Printment
Benjamin took me to Lan‘s private clinic. From the outside, it resembled a top–secret facility with a highly
guarded gate and vast territory surrounding the modern, about twenty–story high, steel and ss
building, I could see that the security cameras were everywhere. As I walked inside, I felt as if I was
entering a biotechboratory rather than going to see a doctor. I sighed in relief to see Neil standing by
the reception desk.
“I thought that you would be with Aren at thepany today,” I said slightly suspiciously. “He told me to
take care of you,” Neil exined, grinning before he gestured for me to follow him down the hall.
“But... what about thepany crisis?” I inquired. “It‘s been handled.” A mischievous smirk shed on
Neil‘s face, making me even more curious.
“How?” I narrowed my eyes at him, certain that there was a story behind it.
“Well... let‘s just say that you‘vee just in time to help in the process.” He chuckled and pulled me to
the side of the hallway, giving us more privacy, before continuing, “Mr. Lan needed to renegotiate a
contract with one of our crucial suppliers. The new conditions they were giving us were impossible to
ept. The supplier thought that there was no one else qualified to fulfill our demand, and they were
right. It seemed like a lost cause, but then Mr. Lan walked in fiercely and told them that our deal was off
because we‘ve found anotherpany to handle our order.”
I nced at him, confused. “So… you found someone else?”
“No.” Neil snorted. “It was a bluff, but this guy from the supplier‘spany almost shit his pants. In the
end, we signed the deal on our terms... better than before.”
I gasped. Was it strange to be proud of my contractual husband–to–be? I was certain of one thing:
ying cards with Aren equaled suicide. “But wait... how did I help in any of this?” I smiled nervously just
before the realization hit –me. “It was that 1:30 appointment...”
Neil nodded, a wicked grin painting his face. “Whatever you fed him with, it helped.”
The embarrassment flooded me, covering my cheeks with a thick blush. I was quite sure that Neil
assumed that his boss and I had a quickie in the office just before the meeting. What was even worse, I
couldn‘t deny it since telling him that we had “only” kissed wouldn‘t change much in his perception. I
lowered my head and stayed silent the rest of the way through the hall.
“Doctor Corbyn will guide you from here,” Neil said, stopping in front of one of the doors. A sudden
restlessness filled me, yet I was unable to exin why. I‘d never been scared of needles or other medical
procedures, and strangely I found this appointment terrifying. Neil left me by that door, saying that he
woulde backter, and I hesitantly knocked on the door.
“Come in!” I heard a female voice calling out from behind the door. I took a deep breath and entered.
Inside the medical room, I saw an attractive brte in a
white doctor‘s coat sitting by the desk and staring at theputer screen. As I closed the door, her eyes
shifted to me. As she looked me up and down, a subtle smirk appeared on her face.
“Hello, Cora.” She stood up from her chair and walked over to me. “You don‘t mind if I call you by your
first name, do you?”
Her straightforwardness startled me. The serious tone of her voice made it impossible to judge whether
she was friendly toward me or hostile. A nervous smile shed on my face as I replied, “By all means, go
ahead.” “Great!” she eximed, excitedly pping her hands. “I‘m Miranda, by the way, Doctor Miranda
Corbyn. Aren told me to examine you.”
I didn‘t miss the hint of intimacy she added to her voice while saying my contracted fiancé‘s name. That
raised many questions about Miranda‘s identity. She called Aren by name, and her directness toward me
caught me off guard. She knew my name and didn‘t bother with formalities. She worked in Aren‘s private
medical facility, and yet she didn‘t seem to be an ordinary employee. How well did she know Aren?
“All right, let‘s get started with the boring procedures,” Miranda said, grabbing a stethoscope from her
desk. “Cora, I need you to take off your shirt.”
I suddenly felt awkward. She was a doctor, and yet the way she scanned my body made me feel
ufortable. Nheless, I exhaled and put a thin smile on my face, taking my shirt off. As I stood in
front of her in my whitece bra, I caught her intensively staring at my boobs.
“Now I bet that Aren loves to y with these...” she muttered, widening her eyes.
An awkward snort escaped my throat. I wanted to say something, but my mind clearly needed to reboot
after her words.
“I am socking in that department.” She giggled, pointing at the tiny curves on top of her ribcage. Then
she stepped closer, cing the stethoscope‘s bell onto my chest with a bright, humorous sigh. “I can tell
you a secret about Aren...” She let out a high–pitched snicker. “A.... secret about Aren?” I repeated,
hystericughter surfacing in my voice. She leaned over my ear with a mysterious grin and whispered,
“He‘s got extremely sensitive ears. He‘ll go crazy if you bite his earlobe.”
My jaw dropped open. I wasn‘t sure how to react to her words. A wave of heat covered my entire body,
and I was certain that my cheeks lit up in fiery red.
“I‘m sorry... but may I ask... how do you know Aren?” I choked out.
Miranda raised her eyebrows at me, surprised. “Oh, my bad. I thought that Aren told you.” She winked at
me as her lips curled into a demonic smile. “I’m Aren‘s ex fiancée.” Exclusive ? material by N?(/v)elDrama.Org.